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79 3 Of all the wars in which New Jersey’s residents have been involved, the American Revolution had the greatest direct impact on its territory. The state, sometimes labeled as the “crucible,” “crossroads,” and “cockpit” of the Revolution, was in the middle of the fighting for seven out of the eight long years of this war. In many places the Revolutionary War was also a bitter civil war pitting neighbors, former friends, and relatives against one another. In the following chapter Mark Lender evaluates the state’s role in the war and notes that several hundred small battles, and a number of major ones, including Trenton, Princeton, and Monmouth, took place in New Jersey. Yet when the story of the Revolution is told, attention most often has been placed first on the fighting further north, especially in Massachusetts in 1775 and early 1776 at the outset of the war, and then after 1779 on the southern campaigns. In 1940 Leonard Lundin complained that New Jersey had been given “scant attention” in accounts of the war. It has fared a little better recently, with a focus on Washington’s crossing of the Delaware in book and film, and with the official federal designation of a large swath of territory as part of a new “Crossroads of the American Revolution” district. Even so, how can the relative lack of past attention be explained? When attention is given to New Jersey’s role in the Revolution, there have been different interpretations, as there are of the war in general. One issue is explaining just why the state was at the center of so much fighting. What role did New Jersey’s geographic location play in the fact that it was caught up in the war? What would have happened had the British army been able to take all of the state, and keep control of it? Where in the state did most of the fighting occur? Next, what was there about the state’s economy that drew in both the British and the rebels? What did they want in or from New Jersey? When historians do turn to New Jersey in this war, they most often describe the beginning, for good reason, as a disaster. The usual account is of New Jersey’s failure to mount resistance to the British invasion in the autumn of 1776, the incompetence and sometimes nonexistence of the militia. Washington is described as quickly retreating across the state in disarray, his army nearly disbanded, while large numbers of 80 / Mark E. Lender intimidated residents took oaths of loyalty to Britain. In addition, many residents were loyalists, or, including a large number of Quakers, just wanted to remain neutral. The state has been described as demoralized and “completely cowed.” This stage of the war was followed by the Battle of Trenton, part of the “ten critical days,” a pivotal point in the Revolution. Was the state really totally demoralized, and had all resistance actually disappeared before December 26, 1776? Just when, according to Lender, did the tide begin to shift? After the battles at Trenton and then Princeton in early January 1777, an exhausted Continental army took refuge in Morristown. It would return later in the war, eventually spending a total of three winters in or near that small town. How does Lender explain this? What was there about Morristown that led the army to spend so much time there? What made its location so important? Was it only geography, or were there other reasons for its selection? Another question has to do with changes that took place in the state as the war continued. In the end, New Jersey was invaded several times, most significantly in 1776 and 1778, but also later, in 1780. The first time the British aimed to take and hold the state, the second to cross it unhindered on their way from Philadelphia to New York City, and the last to capture Washington, his army, and supplies in the Watchung Mountains. They failed at each attempt, but Lender does see changes in how the state responded. What was different, and why? What changed in New Jersey over time? Some estimates put the number of loyalists in New Jersey as onethird , or perhaps more, of the population. Residents from all walks of life, including William Franklin, the last royal governor, turned out and fought to keep the colony British. Their activities helped make New Jersey a dangerous place to live throughout the...

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